A common problem with livestock, particularly cows, but also of less severity with other species, including horses, sheep, goats, swine, etc., is their infestation by arthropods. In recent years, a particularly severe problem has arisen because of the infestation of the ears of cattle by ticks. Ticks attach themselves in the auditory meatus portion of the ears of cattle and go unnoticed until severe damage is done. At the least, ticks are debilitating to the animal and are common carriers of infectious diseases, such as anaplasmosis. At the worst, ticks can, by their severe debilitating character as they feed, cause death of the animal which they infest. Under any condition, an attack of ticks in the ears of agricultural animals results in reduced growth rate of beef cattle and milk production of milk cattle. The consequence is great economic loss to the agricultural industry, particularly in the warmer climates.
Volatile and residual acaricides have been manufactured and are currently available which are highly effective in repelling and killing ticks. Such chemicals include 2,2 - Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, as an example. Chemicals of this type, have been employed in the manufacture of arthropod repellent collars for dogs and cats, however, a difficult problem has arisen with the use of such chemicals in an expedient manner to repell the ticks to prevent infestation of the ears of agricultural livestock. The problem arises in that while it is relatively easy to provide a collar for loosely positioning around the neck of an animal, such as a dog or cat, it is difficult to provide a means of repelling arthropods having a propensity to move into the ear of an agricultural animal.
One example of an attempt to provide the mechanical apparatus for repelling ticks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,200 issued to William T. Oldhausen on Sept. 4, 1973. In this patent an apparatus is described including a roll of material which extends deep into the auditor meatus of the aminal's ear and includes integral tabs extending outwardly from an edge of the material which are retained in the animal's pinnal portion of the ear by means of rivets or the like. While this device may be successful in repelling some ticks from entering the animal's ear, it has disadvantages. By extending deep into the animal's auditor meatus, a great opportunity for irritation exists. A second difficulty is that all known chemical repellents used for incorporation in plastic material have a relatively short, useful life, extending not much beyond two or three months. This means that for effective control the repellent device must be replaced at relatively short intervals. The device shown in the Oldhausen patent is not adaptive for easy replacement, nor, as shown by extensive research on similar devices by the present invention, would such a device be effective to an acceptable extent in controlling arthropods infecting cattle.
It is an object of this invention to provide an arthropod repellent device for attachment to the pinnal portion of the ear of an agricultural animal which is easy to apply, effective and relatively easy to replace.
More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide an arthropod repellent device for attachment to the pinna of an agricultural animal, such as cow, horse, sheep, goat, swine or the like, including a band or belt of material of length sufficient to encompass the base of the pinna, or mostly thereof, and including means of retaining the article in position around the base of the pinna.
Still more particularly, an object of this invention is to provide an arthropod repellent device for attachment to the pinnal portion of the ear of an agricultural animal, including an elongated cylindrical attachment element which may be positioned in an opening in the pinna of the animal ear, including means of removably engaging a flexible band or belt having arthropod repellent incorporated therewith to the attachment element whereby the band or belt may be removed and replaced as required.
In another embodiment, the invention includes a band or belt of material having an arthropod repellent incorporated therein including an integral attachment means for positioning in a hole the pinnal portion of an animal's ear for retaining the band in position.
These general objects, as well as other and more specific objects of the invention will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.